Thermal Physiology, Disease, and Amphibian Declines on the Eastern Slopes of the Andes

Edgar Lehr; Vance T Vredenburg; Alessandro Catenazzi

doi:10.1111/cobi.12194

Thermal Physiology, Disease, and Amphibian Declines on the Eastern Slopes of the Andes

Edgar Lehr, Vance T Vredenburg, Alessandro Catenazzi

Illinois Wesleyan University

Research output: Journal Article › Article › peer-review

Abstract

<div class="line" id="line-7"> Rising temperatures, a widespread consequence of climate change, have been implicated in enigmatic amphibian declines from habitats with little apparent human impact. The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), now widespread in Neotropical mountains, may act in synergy with climate change causing collapse in thermally stressed hosts. We measured the thermal tolerance of frogs along a wide elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes, where frog populations have collapsed. We used the difference between critical thermal maximum and the temperature a frog experiences in nature as a measure of tolerance to high temperatures. Temperature tolerance increased as elevation increased, suggesting that frogs at higher elevations may be less sensitive to rising temperatures. We tested the alternative pathogen optimal growth hypothesis that prevalence of the pathogen should decrease as temperatures fall outside the optimal range of pathogen growth. Our infection &hyphen; prevalence data supported the pathogen optimal growth hypothesis because we found that prevalence of Bd increased when host temperatures matched its optimal growth range. These findings suggest that rising temperatures may not be the driver of amphibian declines in the eastern slopes of the Andes. Zoonotic outbreaks of Bd are the most parsimonious hypothesis to explain the collapse of montane amphibian faunas; but our results also reveal that lowland tropical amphibians, despite being shielded from Bd by higher temperatures, are vulnerable to climate &hyphen; warming stress. </div>

Original language	American English
Journal	Conservation Biology
Volume	28
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12194
State	Published - 2013

Keywords

bosque de montaña
critical thermal maximum
ecología fisiológica
elevational gradient
especies amenazadas
extinción
extinction
frogs
gradiente de elevación
montane forest
máximo termal crítico
physiological ecology
ranas
threatened species
tropical Andes
zona tropical de los Andes

Disciplines

Animal Sciences
Biology

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10.1111/cobi.12194License: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "Thermal Physiology, Disease, and Amphibian Declines on the Eastern Slopes of the Andes",

abstract = " Rising temperatures, a widespread consequence of climate change, have been implicated in enigmatic amphibian declines from habitats with little apparent human impact. The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), now widespread in Neotropical mountains, may act in synergy with climate change causing collapse in thermally stressed hosts. We measured the thermal tolerance of frogs along a wide elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes, where frog populations have collapsed. We used the difference between critical thermal maximum and the temperature a frog experiences in nature as a measure of tolerance to high temperatures. Temperature tolerance increased as elevation increased, suggesting that frogs at higher elevations may be less sensitive to rising temperatures. We tested the alternative pathogen optimal growth hypothesis that prevalence of the pathogen should decrease as temperatures fall outside the optimal range of pathogen growth. Our infection &hyphen; prevalence data supported the pathogen optimal growth hypothesis because we found that prevalence of Bd increased when host temperatures matched its optimal growth range. These findings suggest that rising temperatures may not be the driver of amphibian declines in the eastern slopes of the Andes. Zoonotic outbreaks of Bd are the most parsimonious hypothesis to explain the collapse of montane amphibian faunas; but our results also reveal that lowland tropical amphibians, despite being shielded from Bd by higher temperatures, are vulnerable to climate &hyphen; warming stress. ",

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author = "Edgar Lehr and Vredenburg, {Vance T} and Alessandro Catenazzi",

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journal = "Conservation Biology",

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AU - Lehr, Edgar

AU - Vredenburg, Vance T

AU - Catenazzi, Alessandro

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PY - 2013

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N2 - Rising temperatures, a widespread consequence of climate change, have been implicated in enigmatic amphibian declines from habitats with little apparent human impact. The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), now widespread in Neotropical mountains, may act in synergy with climate change causing collapse in thermally stressed hosts. We measured the thermal tolerance of frogs along a wide elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes, where frog populations have collapsed. We used the difference between critical thermal maximum and the temperature a frog experiences in nature as a measure of tolerance to high temperatures. Temperature tolerance increased as elevation increased, suggesting that frogs at higher elevations may be less sensitive to rising temperatures. We tested the alternative pathogen optimal growth hypothesis that prevalence of the pathogen should decrease as temperatures fall outside the optimal range of pathogen growth. Our infection &hyphen; prevalence data supported the pathogen optimal growth hypothesis because we found that prevalence of Bd increased when host temperatures matched its optimal growth range. These findings suggest that rising temperatures may not be the driver of amphibian declines in the eastern slopes of the Andes. Zoonotic outbreaks of Bd are the most parsimonious hypothesis to explain the collapse of montane amphibian faunas; but our results also reveal that lowland tropical amphibians, despite being shielded from Bd by higher temperatures, are vulnerable to climate &hyphen; warming stress.

AB - Rising temperatures, a widespread consequence of climate change, have been implicated in enigmatic amphibian declines from habitats with little apparent human impact. The pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), now widespread in Neotropical mountains, may act in synergy with climate change causing collapse in thermally stressed hosts. We measured the thermal tolerance of frogs along a wide elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes, where frog populations have collapsed. We used the difference between critical thermal maximum and the temperature a frog experiences in nature as a measure of tolerance to high temperatures. Temperature tolerance increased as elevation increased, suggesting that frogs at higher elevations may be less sensitive to rising temperatures. We tested the alternative pathogen optimal growth hypothesis that prevalence of the pathogen should decrease as temperatures fall outside the optimal range of pathogen growth. Our infection &hyphen; prevalence data supported the pathogen optimal growth hypothesis because we found that prevalence of Bd increased when host temperatures matched its optimal growth range. These findings suggest that rising temperatures may not be the driver of amphibian declines in the eastern slopes of the Andes. Zoonotic outbreaks of Bd are the most parsimonious hypothesis to explain the collapse of montane amphibian faunas; but our results also reveal that lowland tropical amphibians, despite being shielded from Bd by higher temperatures, are vulnerable to climate &hyphen; warming stress.

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KW - critical thermal maximum

KW - ecología fisiológica

KW - elevational gradient

KW - especies amenazadas

KW - extinción

KW - extinction

KW - frogs

KW - gradiente de elevación

KW - montane forest

KW - máximo termal crítico

KW - physiological ecology

KW - ranas

KW - threatened species

KW - tropical Andes

KW - zona tropical de los Andes

UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.12194

U2 - 10.1111/cobi.12194

DO - 10.1111/cobi.12194

M3 - Article

VL - 28

JO - Conservation Biology

JF - Conservation Biology

ER -

Thermal Physiology, Disease, and Amphibian Declines on the Eastern Slopes of the Andes

Abstract

Keywords

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